“Don’t worry, lover,” I tell her. “They’re just jealous.”
“Of me, maybe,” she scoffs.
I leave another kiss at her temple. “No, definitely of me.”
She turns her face up to look at me just as everyone in the stands gets on their feet to cheer for the Druids who are starting to line up for the face-off. She pulls her lower lip between her teeth worriedly. “Everything is going to be okay, right?”
I can only smile back at her—arealsmile, not one that’s hidingpain or tears—and for the first time in a long time, it really does feel like everything is going to be okay.
For the first time, it doesn’t feel like my life is ending.
It feels like it’s just beginning.
“Yeah,” I say against her ear, pulling her to her feet so we can join the screaming crowd. “Everything is going to be just fine.”
Epilogue
Abby
Six Months Later
The hall is empty whenI make my way down it, my heels clicking against the tile as I head toward the locker room. I can’t help but think back to a time so many months ago when I came down this same way with Lila, but I felt a lot differently about it then. I still kind of feel like I’m somewhere I’m not supposed to be, but also, I know there’s someone waiting for me in that room that is everywhere I should be. It’s a new perspective, to be sure.
The last six months have been nothing short of amazing. Jack has been the picture of the perfect boyfriend, something that a year ago would have seemed completely foreign to me, but now that I know him—it’s absolutely easy to comprehend. He’s supported me through the process of getting a restraining order against my dad—because of course the man learned nothing; he’sclapped for me at my graduation; he’s celebrated with me when I got a job at St. Michael’s counseling the kids there…It feels like I’ve lived so much life in such a short time, and I’m happy to say that Jack has been there through all of it.
I rap my knuckles against the doorframe before stepping inside, opening my mouth to give a warning shout before realizing it’s completely unnecessary, since the locker room is empty. I frown at the barren room as I turn my head this way and that in search of Jack, still holding his phone in my hand from where I’d grabbed it from his place.
“Jack?”
I jolt when he appears from behind the lockers, leaning against them with a lazy grin and looking extra delectable in his navy suit. He thought a lot about whether or not he’d return to playing after he recovered from his surgery months ago, and in the end, he took it as a sign from the universe that it was time to move on to other things. I can honestly say I’ve never seen him so excited as he’s been helping his old coach with the team, and now that it’s opening day, I know deep down he’s vibrating with anticipation at getting out there and doing it officially.
“Boo,” he says.
I roll my eyes, holding his phone out to him. “Don’t scare me like that.”
“How was work?”
“Long,” I tell him, “but it was a good day. I think I’m making a breakthrough with Jenna.”
Jenna is a seven-year-old who came to St. Michael’s not long after I started working there two months ago, her parents having passed away in a car accident not unlike what happened to Jackand Lila. Maybe that’s why I’ve felt such a draw to her since she came, felt the need to make sure she knows she’s not alone.
“Of course you are,” he says. “My sweet baby shrink out there making the world a better place.”
“Mhm,” I answer, my eyes traveling down the length of him. “I have to say, if the new job means I get to see you like this more often…”
He wiggles his eyebrows, doing a little spin. “You like?”
“Wouldn’t want to make your head any bigger.”
“Oh, baby,” he laughs. “That ship has sailed.”
I turn my head to glance at the empty room again. “So where is everyone? Shouldn’t you guys be doing your little pregame shenanigans before opening day?”
“We’re reigning Stanley Cup champions two years in a row,” he scoffs. “We don’t haveshenanigans.”
“Sure you don’t,” I chuckle.
“If youmustknow,” he tells me, “I had them clear out before you got here.”